Wallace dominates boards; Bulls hold off Bucks

Dec 16, 2006 - 5:54 AM
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Chicago Bulls center Ben Wallace had his
season high in rebounds two days earlier, but against the
Milwaukee Bucks he upped the ante.

Kirk Hinrich scored 21 points and Wallace came within one
rebound of his career high as the Bulls posted a 117-111 victory
over the Bucks.

Chris Duhon scored 19 points - all after halftime - and Ben
Gordon added 18, including 12-of-12 from the free-throw line,
for Chicago, which has won three straight and 11 of its last 12
games.

Wallace had a huge all-around effort, grabbing 27 boards and
scoring 10 points to go with a season-high six assists, three
steals and three blocks.

"I knew I had a lot of them (rebounds) and some of the guys were
even shouting out the numbers as I hit certain levels," Wallace
said. "It was a good game for us."

"He's unbelievable, I would like to have him on my team any
day," Bucks forward Ruben Patterson said. "Wallace is always
out there playing hard."

It was the second straight game the four-time Defensive Player
of the Year has dominated the glass. On Wednesday, against
Seattle, Wallace hauled in 20 rebounds and added a season-high
15 points for the Bulls, who are 11-3 against the Eastern
Conference, including 9-0 at home.

"We had a handful of unsung performances from guys off the bench
but Ben Wallace was as good tonight as I have ever seem him,"
Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "That was an All-Star
performance from Ben."

"Chicago is coming together with Wallace," Bucks coach Terry
Stotts said. "Gordon off the bench scoring points and Andre
Nocioni is spreading the floor with Wallace having an impact for
48 minutes."

"Thomas had a lot of energy out there tonight, he did a nice job
for us," Skiles said. "This was a nice opportunity for him to
play and he played well."

The Bulls also converted 35-of-41 free throws vs. 16-of-34 for
the Bucks, who have lost three straight and 10 of their last 12
in the United Center.

"We did very well at the line tonight, that was pretty much the
game," Duhon said. "They missed a lot of them and we made
ours."

"The free-throw line was disappointing," Stotts said. "To say
it had an impact on the game is a major understatement.
Chicago's athletic rebounders were all over the boards."

Michael Redd scored 32 points - his third straight game of 30 or
more against the Bulls - and Patterson had 21 points and 13
rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 48 percent (43-of-89) from
the field.

"Unfortunately we came up with a loss tonight," Redd said. "Give
Chicago credit, they made plays and they made their free throws
and we didn't. Wallace played tremendous basketball. He was
an animal on the boards and he was dominant."